![]() He’s still convinced that he can hear a stray moo every so often. Jewl accidentally rang her cowbell and summoned them during a storm, because as you know cows do not like going down stairs. It took poor Louis-who-is-actually-Sachar 243 days to rid the 30 stories of Wayside School of the cows that had shown up after Mrs. On second thought, I think this is my second favorite set of stories from Wayside School. A decent chunk of the humor involves ruminations on the nature of kids and how they do things that drive adults nuts, but somehow kids always seem to be in on the joke. It’s definitely a very kid brand of humor, although it’s not particular gross out or juvenile. I cannot even fathom the pitch to the editor for this series of books. There is no Miss Zarves, because there is no 19th story.Īllison might end up in Miss Zarves’ class, but there is no Miss Zarves, and Calvin definitely delivered the note to her because there was no note and no Miss Zarves. There is no 19th story, because when Wayside school was build the builder went straight from 18 to 20. This book (and/or the next one) definitely marks the highlight of this series for me, namely because we are introduced to Miss Zarves, the teacher on the 19th floor, in a way that doesn’t ruin the mystique and hilarity of the story. While re-reading these books I did find some of the nostalgic magic missing from this first entry, and I think the books do pick up and get better with each (original) entry. Gorf, the worst teacher floor 30 has ever had–appears only in the very beginning of this book (without much introduction) and yet casts a very very long shadow. One of the most memorable characters–Mrs. Sachar also rewarded you as a reader for remembering little details from previous chapters (or even previous books). Concepts like satire, pastiche, reductio ad absurdum would have meant nothing to me when I was first reading this book, but by the end of these books I definitely knew what they were. To try and be more succinct with why I liked it so much: this might have been one of the first books I read with a real fourth-wall-breaking style? Something about how Sachar-as/through-Louis talks directly to you, the reader, makes you feel like you’re reading something very clever and grown up. Holes might be his most famous work, but it never grabbed me the way the stories of Wayside School (build, by accident, with 30 classrooms stacked on top of one another instead of side by side) did. Sachar is, of course, an award winning writer many times over. ![]() I have fond memories of these books and their particular brand of absurdism. In advance of reading the new(!) fourth installment in this delightful series, I thought I’d re-read the original three in rapid succession. ![]() At no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through these links.Old Series: the newest installment in this series comes 25 years(!) after the last, and 44(!!!) years since the firstĪ mild content warning for some old school “humor” around kids being fat which didn’t age the best but is also not used in a bullying way **Please note that the Amazon links above are affiliate links. ![]() “The Most Horrifying Moments From Sideways Stories from Wayside School” ( The Toast, 2014) “ Sideways Stories from Wayside School: A Grown-up Look at Louis Sachar’s Classic Silly Stories” ( Bustle, 2014) “Louis Sachar’s Wayside School Bell Will Ring Again” ( Publishers Weekly, 2019) “Louis Sachar, The Children’s Book Author Who Introduced Me to Style” ( The New Yorker, 2017) “The Absurd Joy of Sideways Stories From Wayside School” ( The Atlantic, 2016) Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori GottliebĪ Discovery of Witches: A Novel by Deborah Harkness LISTEN TO THE THERE’S A BOY IN THE GIRLS’ BATHROOM EPISODE HERE ! Follow The Bookly Club on Instagram ( and Twitter ( TO THE WALK TWO MOONS EPISODE HERE, FEAT. Katie is one of the founders of The Bookly Club, an online book club that’s open to all. Without any nostalgic attachment to Louis Sachar’s Sideways Stories from Wayside School, she’s not quite sure how to feel about it… but you’ll have to tune in for all the details! On this episode, you’ll hear Alli and her guest Katie Cragwall discuss their favorite things about the book’s format/structure, the way it shows its age with respect to name-calling, the extent to which the author was “in on the joke” in writing these stories, and how the book flies in the face of their rule-following natures! Every once in a while, Alli has to share what she *really* thinks is going to be an unpopular opinion on the podcast.
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